Requests and responses by category

Refugees

Requested Mon 13 November 2017
Responded Mon 13 November 2017

I am
writing a coursework on correlation of wealth of UK's regions
and refugees. The idea is to analyse data on refugees in the UK
regions with different percentage of refugees per UK's
population. Based on that create mathematical models on their
effect on the wealth of the above areas. I chose this project
since I'm involved with a number of charities that help
refugees and am very passionate about this topic.

I am looking for data for my project
and thought I'll get in touch with you hoping you might be
able to help.

For my project I need data of the past
20 years, if available, on number of refugees in your region,
their country of origin, age and gender. Ideally this data
should be individual rather than general number of refugees
from country X that would not be connected with gender and age
of this person. I understand that in some regions 20
years of data might exceed time/cost exemption under Section 21
of the FOI Act. In this case, would it be possible to
prioritise latest figures and work
backwards?

Is there any chance you could help me
with this data on your region or, perhaps, point out in the
right direction where I should search for
it?

Response

Thank you for your enquiry.
Unfortunately, the local authority does not keep the data you
have requested, so I am unable to provide the answer you
require. However, as Hastings is leading on the Syrian
Vulnerable Persons resettlement Programme for East Sussex, it
is possible to provide core data for this particular scheme,
but this only goes back one year, so has limited scope. A
more fruitful option would be to contact Migrant Help in
Dover, who hold a database on which it states the current
immigration status of each of their clients. They work
closely with Canterbury Christchurch University in Canterbury
on a migration-specific study. You may find it useful to
approach both. Also, your query just addresses the category
of 'refugee'. There are a number of ways that people are
granted leave to remain the UK, such as Discretionary Leave,
Humanitarian Protection, Limited Leave to Remain, Indefinite
Leave to Remain etc. Does your study include those categories
also? When a person presents to a local authority, there is
no requirement for them to record the type of leave to remain
given to them, just that they are entitled to access public
funds with their particular category of leave. For example,
an asylum seeker is unable to access public funds outside of
their asylum support package from the Home Office. There are
also categories of limited leave to remain (the 10 year
route) that state that the individual is allowed to work in
the UK, but has no recourse to public funds. As
stated, we would be happy to provide details relating to
the Syrian resettled persons, but the data you request is
unavailable. Should you wish to discuss this further, you can
email Hastings Borough Council on informationofficer@hastings.gov.uk
We wish you every success with
your project